Sample-collecting device capable of quantitative sampling

ABSTRACT

The present specification discloses a sample-collecting device capable of quantitative sampling. The sample-collecting device according to the present specification comprises an upper housing and a lower housing which are coupled to be engaged with each other. A film part and a light diffusion part may be provided between the upper housing and the lower housing. A pillar-shaped sample inlet having a central path may be formed in the upper surface of the upper housing, and a sample stopper may be formed as a step on the lower surface of the upper housing. The step is spaced apart by a predetermined distance from a hole in the central path, which is formed in the lower surface of the upper housing, to form a sample storage space, and the step is in contact with the film part to enable sealing so that a sample that has flowed into the sample storage space does not flow out between the sample stopper and the film part.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sample-collecting device, and moreparticularly, to a sample-collecting device capable of quantitativesampling.

This application is accompanied by priority to Korean Patent ApplicationNos. 10-2019-0134004 and 10-2020-0026689, and all contents described inthe specification of the above patent applications can be cited.

BACKGROUND ART

In order to test specific characteristic values using samples such asblood, urine, saliva, and the like, measurement methods using asample-collecting device, a so-called sensor strip (or biosensor strip),are used. For example, in order to measure blood glucose, a finger isinserted into an inlet of a blood glucose meter and blood is drawn fromthe fingertip, and when a small amount of blood drawn from the fingertipis placed on a sensor strip inserted into the blood glucose meter, theblood is automatically drawn into an inlet of the sensor strip, and aresult value is displayed on a screen of the blood glucose meter.

Such a sensor strip enables the most accurate measurement when aquantitative sample is input. However, in the structure of the sensorstrip, in most cases, an excessive amount of sample is input dependingon the user, and there are many cases where the deviation of measuredvalues is irregular.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention is directed to providing a sample-collectingdevice capable of quantitative sampling.

Objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-describedobject and other objects that are not described will be clearlyunderstood by those skilled in the art from the following descriptions.

Technical Solution

One aspect of the present invention provides a sample-collecting deviceincluding an upper housing having a sample inlet formed in an uppersurface thereof and a sample stopper formed on a lower surface thereof,a lower housing having a light entering hole for receiving externallight and a photographing hole for photographing the sample inputthrough the sample inlet, a film part which is positioned between theupper housing and the lower housing and on which a sample input throughthe sample inlet is spread, and a light diffusion part which has alength greater than a distance between the light entering hole and thephotographing hole, is positioned between the film part and the lowerhousing, and has an opening formed at the same position as thephotographing hole when positioned between the film part and the lowerhousing, wherein the sample inlet is formed to have a pillar shapehaving a central passage, the central passage is connected from anuppermost end (hereinafter referred to as a “contact region”) of thesample inlet to the lower surface of the upper housing, and the samplestopper is a step formed on the lower surface of the upper housing,wherein the step is spaced a predetermined distance from a hole of thecentral passage, which is formed in the lower surface of the upperhousing, to form a sample storage space, and the step comes into contactwith the film part to seal a gap between the sample stopper and the filmpart so that the sample input into the sample storage space does notflow out between the sample stopper and the film part.

A side portion of the sample inlet may have a circular pillar shape, andhave an upper portion having a truncated cone shape. In this case, asample input assistance hole having a predetermined width and having ashape which is open from the truncated cone shaped side surface to acontact region may be formed in the upper portion of the sample inlet.

A diameter of the central passage may range from 0.2 mm to 1.5 mm.

A length of the central passage may range from 2.0 mm to 7.0 mm.

A step height of the sample stopper may range from 0.05 mm to 0.20 mm.

The sample stopper may be a step forming a circular sample storagespace. In this case, a diameter of the sample storage space may rangefrom 1.0 mm to 4.0 mm.

Preferably, the diameter of the central passage may be 0.7 mm, thelength of the central passage may be 3.5 mm, the step height of thesample stopper may be 0.1 mm, and the sample stopper may be a stepforming a sample storage space having a diameter of 1.5 mm.

Other specific details of the present invention are included in thedetailed description and accompanying drawings.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present invention, a quantitative sample can be sampledregardless of the user's contact time. Since the measurement is madebased on the quantitative sample, it is possible to perform moreaccurate diagnosis.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-describedeffects and other effects that are not described will be clearlyunderstood by those skilled in the art from the following descriptions.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view, a perspective view, a side view, and afront view of a sample-collecting device according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the sample-collecting deviceaccording to the present invention.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate reference diagrams of a sample inlet.

FIG. 5 illustrates reference diagrams illustrating a portion of a lowersurface of an upper housing on which a sample stopper is formed.

MODES OF THE INVENTION

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods ofachieving the same will be clearly understood with reference to theaccompanying drawings and embodiments described in detail below.However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments to bedisclosed below but may be implemented in various different forms. Theembodiments are provided in order to fully describe the presentembodiments and fully explain the scope of the present invention tothose skilled in the art. The scope of the present invention is onlydefined by the appended claims.

Terms used in this specification are considered in a descriptive senseonly and not for purposes of limitation. In this specification, singularforms include plural forms unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be understood that terms “comprise” and/or“comprising,” when used herein, specify some stated components but donot preclude the presence or addition of one or more other components.Like reference numerals indicate like components throughout thespecification and the term “and/or” includes each and all combinationsof one or more referents. It should be understood that, although theterms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein to describe variouscomponents, these components are not limited by these terms. The termsare only used to distinguish one component from another component.Therefore, it should be understood that a first component to bedescribed below may be a second component within the technical scope ofthe present invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein can be used as is customary in the art to which thepresent invention belongs. Also, it will be further understood thatterms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, will not beinterpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly sodefined herein.

Spatially-relative terms such as “below,” “beneath,” “lower,” “above,”and “upper” may be used herein for ease of description to describe therelationship of one component and other components as illustrated in thedrawings. The spatially-relative terms should be understood to includedifferent directions of the component when being used or operating, inaddition to the direction illustrated in the drawing. For example, whenthe component in the drawings is turned over, components described as“below” or “beneath” other components would then be oriented “above” theother components. Therefore, an exemplary term “below” may encompassboth an orientation of above and below. Components may be oriented indifferent directions so that spatially-relative terms may be interpretedaccording to the arrangement.

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view, a perspective view, a side view, and afront view of a sample-collecting device according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the sample-collecting deviceaccording to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the sample-collecting device 100 according to thepresent invention may include an upper housing 110, a film part 120, alight diffusion part 130, and a lower housing 140.

The upper housing 110 may be made of a polymer synthetic material,so-called plastic, and may be manufactured using an injection moldingmethod. A sample inlet 111 is a hole through which a material to bemeasured, such as blood, urine, saliva, etc. is input, and a user mayinput a sample into the sample-collecting device 100 through the sampleinlet 111 formed in an upper surface of the upper housing 110.

The upper housing 110 and the lower housing 140 may have shapescorresponding to each other. In addition, the lower housing 140 may becoupled to be engaged with the upper housing 110 (e.g., a forced fitmethod).

A light entering hole 141 for receiving external light and aphotographing hole 142 for photographing the input sample may be formedin the lower housing 140. The sample-collecting device 100 according tothe present invention may be a device necessary for performing acolorimetric method using a camera included in a mobile communicationterminal. In the mobile communication terminal, the camera and a lightsource that emits light may be configured to be adjacent on the samesurface. In this case, the sample-collecting device 100 according to thepresent invention may be positioned in front of the camera of the mobilecommunication terminal, and the light source may emit light and then thesample may be photographed so that the colorimetric method may beperformed. The light entering hole 141 is a hole through which the lightemitted from the light source (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED))installed in the mobile communication terminal enters the inside of thesample-collecting device 100. In addition, the photographing hole 142 isa hole through which the camera installed in the mobile communicationterminal may photograph the sample.

The sizes and positions of the photographing hole 142 and the lightentering hole 141 may vary depending on positions of the light sourceand the camera installed in the mobile communication terminal to beused. The mobile communication terminal may include a mobile phone, asmartphone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), anavigation system, a slate personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, aUltrabook, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, smart glasses, and ahead mounted display (HMD)), or the like. However, the present inventionis not limited to a specific mobile communication terminal.

The film part 120 may be positioned between the upper housing 110 andthe lower housing 140. The film part 120 is a portion on which a samplesolution input through the sample inlet 111 spreads. In particular, whenblood is input through a porous structure, the film part 120 may be madeof a material capable of separating only a blood plasma component fromwhole blood. For the material and/or structure of the film part 120, thecontent filed through Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0001815(title: Strip for measuring biomaterials) will be cited, and detaileddescriptions thereof will be omitted.

The light diffusion part 130 may have a length greater than a distancebetween the light entering hole 141 and the photographing hole 142 andmay be positioned between the film part 120 and the lower housing 140.The light diffusion part 130 is a component which light first reacheswhen the light emitted from the light source installed in the mobilecommunication terminal is enters the inside of the sample-collectingdevice 100 through the light entering hole 141. The light is diffusedand scattered laterally through the light diffusion part 130 so that thelight reaches the film part 120 on which the sample is placed.

Further, when the light diffusion part 130 is positioned between thefilm part 120 and the lower housing 140, the light diffusion part 130may have an opening 131 formed at the same position as the photographinghole 142. The camera installed in the mobile communication terminal mayphotograph the sample on the film part 120 through the opening 131.

Meanwhile, in the lower housing 140, a light diffusion part seatinggroove 144 in which the light diffusion part 130 may be seated may beformed. A depth of the light diffusion part seating groove 144 may beidentical to a height of the light diffusion part 130, and the lightdiffusion part seating groove 144 may have a size corresponding to alength and width of the light diffusion part 130.

The sample inlet 111 may be formed to have a pillar shape having acentral passage.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a side portion ofthe sample inlet 111 may have a circular pillar shape, and have an upperportion having a truncated cone shape. Further, referring to anauxiliary image illustrated at the right side of the upper housing 110in FIG. 2, in the upper portion of the sample inlet 111, a sample inputassistance hole 112 having a predetermined width and having a shapewhich is open from the truncated cone shaped side surface to a contactregion may be formed. When the user covers an uppermost end (hereinafterreferred to as a “contact region”) of the sample inlet 111 with his orher finger for blood sampling, the sample input assistance hole 112 isnot directly covered by the finger, but may be covered by the blood onthe fingertip. Accordingly, a surface area of a portion in which theblood is brought into contact with the contact region is increased, andthus a large amount of blood may be input into the sample inlet 111. Thecentral passage will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate reference diagrams of the sample inlet.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a central passage 113 may be connected fromthe uppermost end (contact region) of the sample inlet 111 to a lowersurface of the upper housing 110. Therefore, the sample may be inputinto the sample-collecting device 100 along the central passage 113 andmay reach the film part 120.

A sample stopper 114 may be formed on the lower surface of the upperhousing 110.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the sample inlet 111 isillustrated. The sample stopper 114 may be formed as a step having apredetermined height from the lower surface of the upper housing 110. Inthis case, a boundary of the sample stopper 114 may be formed in astepped manner from the lower surface of the upper housing 110 or may beformed in an inclined manner.

FIG. 5 illustrates reference diagrams illustrating a portion of thelower surface of the upper housing 110 on which the sample stopper 114is formed.

Referring to FIG. 5, it can be seen that a hole 116 of the centralpassage 113 is formed in the lower surface of the upper housing 110. Thehole 116 may be referred to as a “stopper hole.”

The step may be spaced a predetermined distance from the stopper hole116 so that the sample stopper 114 may form a sample storage space 115.In a state in which the upper housing 110 is coupled to the lowerhousing 140, a surface of the sample stopper 114 comes into contact withthe film part 120. In this case, the sample stopper 114 and the filmpart 120 come into contact with each other to fully seal a gaptherebetween, and thus the sample cannot flow out of the sample stopper114 and remains inside. That is, the sample stopper 114 comes intocontact with the film part 120, and thus a gap between sample stopper114 and the film part 120 may be sealed so that the sample input intothe sample storage space 115 does not flow out between the samplestopper 114 and the film part 120. Preferably, the gap between thesample stopper 114 and the film part 120 may be sealed to the degreethat not only a fluid but also gas does not pass. Therefore, the sampleinput through the sample inlet 111 reaches the sample storage space 115through the stopper hole 116, and when the sample that reaches thesample storage space 115 is no longer spread due to the sample stopper114, the sample is filled as much as the size of the sample storagespace 115.

More sample (blood, urine, etc.) than necessary may be input into thesample-collecting device according to the related art, that is, thesensor strip, by the user. An excessive amount of sample is the cause oflowering the accuracy of diagnosis such as a colorimetric method or thelike. Therefore, in order to improve the accuracy of diagnosis such as acolorimetric method or the like, it is necessary to input a samplesuitable for an amount of a reaction reagent applied to the film part120.

An advantage of the sample-collecting device 100 according to thepresent invention is the achievement of an appropriate input amount ofsample. It is assumed that the user inputs his or her blood into thesample-collecting device 100 through finger blood sampling. When theuser puts his or her finger on the contact region (blood inputoperation), the blood passes through the central passage 113, whichpasses through the sample inlet 111, and reaches the sample storagespace 115. In this case, the blood is no longer spread due to the samplestopper 114, and the blood is filled from the sample storage space 115through the central passage 113 to the contact region. As a result, nomore blood is input into the sample inlet 111 (blood input stoppingoperation). Further, while the user touches the contact region with hisor her finger, the blood filling the central passage 113 and the like isblocked from atmospheric pressure, and thus the blood does not go downin a state in which the central passage 113 is filled (input bloodstopping operation). Thereafter, when the user separates his or herfinger from the contact region, the blood filling the central passage113 and the like flows downward through the sample inlet 111 due to theatmospheric pressure (blood input completion operation). When the bloodinput operation, the blood input stopping operation, the input bloodstopping operation, and the blood input completion operation areperformed, only as much blood as the amount filling the central passage113 and the sample storage space 115 is input into the sample-collectingdevice 100. That is, only an amount of blood corresponding to areas ofthe central passage 113 and the sample storage space 115 is input intothe sample-collecting device 100, regardless of the length of time theuser's finger touches the contact region.

Therefore, the input amount of sample may be set by the areas of thecentral passage 113 and the sample storage space 115, but the areas ofthe central passage 113 and the sample storage space 115 should bedetermined in consideration of material properties such as density andviscosity of the sample.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a diameter of thecentral passage 113 may range from 0.2 mm to 1.5 mm.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a length of thecentral passage 113 may range from 2.0 mm to 7.0 mm.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a step height ofthe sample stopper 114 may range from 0.05 mm to 0.20 mm.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sample stopper114 may be a step forming a circular sample storage space 115. Further,a diameter of the sample storage space may range from 1.0 mm to 4.0 mm.

Meanwhile, when the sample is blood, the applicant conducted experimentson whether an appropriate amount of blood is input according to a sizeof each structure.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, it can be seen that the step height of thesample stopper 114 is changed. In Example a of FIG. 3, the step heightof the sample stopper 114 is 0.1 mm, in Example b of FIG. 3, the stepheight of the sample stopper 114 is 0.05 mm, and in Example c of FIG. 3,the step height of the sample stopper 114 is 0.2 mm. Results ofexperiments in which the blood was input five times for each of Examplesa, b, and c are as in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Input weight (mg) a b c 1^(st) input 2.9 3.3 3.5  2^(nd) input3.6 3.6 — 3^(rd) input 3.5 3.6 3.0  4^(th) input 3.5 3.1 — 5^(th) input3.2 2.8 3.5  AVER 3.34 3.28 3.33 SD 0.29 0.34 0.29 % CV 8.68 10.43 8.66

In Table 1 above, the unit of weight of the input blood is milligram(mg), AVER denotes an average weight of the input blood, SD denotes astandard deviation, and CV denotes a coefficient of variation. Further,in the experiments illustrated in FIG. 3, the diameter of the centralpassage is 0.7 mm, the length of the central passage is 3.5 mm, and thediameter of the sample storage space is 4.0 mm.

Referring to Table 1, a value of the CV is the lowest in Example c.However, there was a case in which no blood was input in the 2^(nd)input and the 4^(th) input. The step height of the sample stopper 114 isrelated to the pressure applied to the film part 120 in a state in whichthe upper housing 110 and the lower housing 140 are coupled to eachother. When the step height of the sample stopper 114 is too high, thepressure applied to the film part 120 is increased and, accordingly, airthat is present in the sample storage space 115 before the blood isinput cannot be discharged, and thus it is determined that the blood isnot input. Meanwhile, in Example b, the step height of the samplestopper 114 is too low, and thus the input blood passed over the samplestopper 114 and leaked sideways. Therefore, the step height of thesample stopper 114 is preferably 0.1 mm.

Next, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, it can be seen that the diameter ofthe sample storage space 115 is changed. In Example a of FIG. 4, thediameter of the sample storage space 115 is 4.0 mm, in Example d of FIG.4, the diameter of the sample storage space 115 is 2.0 mm, and inExample e of FIG. 4, the diameter of the sample storage space 115 is 1.5mm. Results of experiments in which the blood was input five times foreach of Examples a, d, and e are as in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Input weight (mg) a d e 1^(st) input 2.9 3.4 3.0 2^(nd) input3.6 3.0 2.8 3^(rd) input 3.5 3.3 3.0 4^(th) input 3.5 2.8 2.7 5^(th)input 3.2 3.0 2.8 AVER 3.34 3.10 2.86 SD 0.29 0.24 0.13 % CV 8.68 7.904.69

In Table 2 above, the unit of weight of the input blood is mg, AVERdenotes an average weight of the input blood, SD denotes a standarddeviation, and CV denotes a coefficient of variation. Further, in theexperiments illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the diameter of the centralpassage is 0.7 mm, the length of the central passage is 3.5 mm, and thestep height of the sample stopper is 0.1 mm.

Referring to Table 2, a value of the CV is the lowest in Example e.Therefore, the diameter of the sample storage space 115 is preferably1.5 mm.

While embodiments of the present inventive concept have been describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present inventive concept and withoutchanging essential features. Therefore, the above-described embodimentsshould be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   100: SAMPLE-COLLECTING DEVICE    -   110: UPPER HOUSING    -   111: SAMPLE INLET    -   112: SAMPLE INPUT ASSISTANCE HOLE    -   113: CENTRAL PASSAGE    -   114: SAMPLE STOPPER    -   115: SAMPLE STORAGE SPACE    -   116: STOPPER HOLE    -   120: FILM PART    -   130: LIGHT DIFFUSION PART    -   140: LOWER HOUSING

1. A sample-collecting device comprising: an upper housing having asample inlet formed in an upper surface thereof and a sample stopperformed on a lower surface thereof; a lower housing coupled to the upperhousing; and a film part which is positioned between the upper housingand the lower housing and on which a sample input through the sampleinlet is spread, wherein the sample inlet is formed to have a pillarshape having a central passage, the central passage is connected from anuppermost end (hereinafter referred to as a “contact region”) of thesample inlet to the lower surface of the upper housing, and the samplestopper is a step formed on the lower surface of the upper housing,wherein the step is spaced a predetermined distance from a hole of thecentral passage, which is formed in the lower surface of the upperhousing, to form a sample storage space, and the step comes into contactwith the film part to seal a gap between the sample stopper and the filmpart so that the sample input into the sample storage space does notflow out between the sample stopper and the film part.
 2. Thesample-collecting device of claim 1, wherein a side portion of thesample inlet has a circular pillar shape.
 3. The sample-collectingdevice of claim 1, wherein a diameter of the central passage ranges from0.2 mm to 1.5 mm.
 4. The sample-collecting device of claim 1, wherein alength of the central passage ranges from 2.0 mm to 7.0 mm.
 5. Thesample-collecting device of claim 1, wherein a step height of the samplestopper ranges from 0.05 mm to 0.20 mm.
 6. The sample-collecting deviceof claim 1, wherein the sample stopper is a step forming a circularsample storage space.
 7. The sample-collecting device of claim 6,wherein a diameter of the sample storage space ranges from 1.0 mm to 4.0mm.
 8. The sample-collecting device of claim 1, wherein: a diameter ofthe central passage ranges from 0.2 mm to 1.5 mm; a length of thecentral passage ranges from 2.0 mm to 5.0 mm; a step height of thesample stopper ranges from 0.05 mm to 0.20 mm; and the sample stopper isa step forming a sample storage space having a diameter of 1.0 mm to 4.0mm.
 9. The sample-collecting device of claim 8, wherein: the diameter ofthe central passage is 0.7 mm; the length of the central passage is 3.5mm; the step height of the sample stopper is 0.1 mm; and the samplestopper is a step forming a sample storage space having a diameter of1.5 mm.